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Hanover officials say broadband build accelerates; private-road easements and home connections remain bottlenecks
Summary
County and contractors reported rapid progress on the Connect Hanover fiber build — roughly 230 of 326 miles of mainline fiber installed and nearly 200 home light-ups to date — but officials warned that private-road easements and the queue for inside installs mean many residents will wait months for in-home service.
Hanover County and its Internet service providers on Wednesday told the Board of Supervisors that mainline fiber installation has moved quickly in recent months but that getting service to individual homes will take longer.
Deputy County Administrator Todd Kilduff said the county has recorded about 230 miles of mainline fiber installed of a planned 326 miles and that All Points Broadband and partnered vendors have lit roughly 179–200 customer connections so far. Kilduff said the contract covers about 6,200 home and business passings; at a current take rate of roughly 30%, providers are connecting dozens of homes per week, and the county is preparing for that pace to accelerate as marketing and neighbor referrals increase.
"Getting the fiber in is one thing. Lighting the fiber and scheduling in-home installations is where most people will see a lag," Kilduff said, explaining the difference between outdoor 'home connection' (gray box on a house) and the indoor router install, which homeowners schedule with the provider.
Tom Innes of All Points Broadband told the board crews have ramped up and the company is hiring subcontractors to handle the connection queue. He said All Points is using a mix of aerial and underground installation and that utility marking and miss-utility locates remain coordination points. For private roads where no public easement exists, Innes described an easement-collection process that includes door-to-door notary service to secure recorded easements.
"We touched about 3,700 parcels across the county," Innes said, adding that the county expects to complete mainline construction in many VDOT-permitted areas by the end of September and that remaining specialty permits and private-road work will continue into Q4. He said the program will continue to add crews to increase the number of weekly home activations.
GloFiber also reported substantial progress: Stewart French said his firm has built about 263 miles of fiber in the county with roughly 17,500 homes now able to choose a new provider where they previously had only one option. GloFiber expects the remaining jobs to be substantially complete by year-end.
County staff emphasized practical steps for residents: property owners should expect that utility owners will mark public utilities and that private utilities (dog fences, septic lines, etc.) are the homeowner’s responsibility to flag; installation timelines can range from 60–90 days after last-mile construction and provider outreach. The county has posted explainer videos and updated a "construction updates" page for monthly progress reporting.
The board and staff also discussed federal and state funding updates: the county said a recent BEAD/State broadband funding announcement could bring additional provider coverage for remaining unserved pockets if the Department of Commerce/NTIA approves allocations in its 90-day review.
What's next: county staff said they will continue monthly public updates, work through private-road easement trials (Fraley Court was cited as the pilot), and monitor the providers' pace of home activations. Kilduff and Innes asked residents with questions to use the project contact pages and to complete preorders so providers can queue drops more efficiently.
Sources: Presentations and Q&A with Todd Kilduff (Deputy County Administrator), Tom Innes (All Points Broadband), and Stewart French (GloFiber).
